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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

LUDWIG BEOKERS, OF SPANDAU, PRUSSIA, GERMANY.

TREATING CAOUTCHOUC WlTH HYD ROCARBON OILS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,788, dated July 26, 1881.

Application filedJune24, 1880. (Specimens) pire of Germany, have invented new and useful Improvements in Treating (Jaoutchouc with Hydrocarbon, of which the following is a specification. p

The objectot' this invention is to furnish for applications in the trades, to be used for waterproofingand other purposes, an improved caoutchouc composition which combines the elastic and moisture repellent properties of caoutchouc with easily-flowing properties of hydro-' carbon oils; and the invention consists in exposing thin strips of caoutchouc for a certain length of time to the action of hydrocarbon oil the boiling temperature of which is between 250 and 300 centigrade until a soft homogeneous mass is obtained, and then mixing the mass with an additional quantity of hydrocarbon oil until a clear liquid is obtained.

In preparing the compound the caoutchouc is cut into thin strips and exposed to the action of hydrocarbon oil in the proportion of one part of oaoutchouc to four parts of oil.

The hydrocarbon oil is preferably obtained by dry distillation of the heavy residues of petroleum, bituminous coal, peat, turf, or similar substances, the oil obtained at a temperature of from 250 to 300 centigrade having been found by practical tests to be the most suitable for the purposes of this invention. The hydrocarbon oil is allowed to remain in contact with the thin strips of caoutchouc for a week or more with out being disturbed, after which time a soft homogeneous mass of the consistency of a stiff dough is obtained. This mass is then mechanically mixed in a suitable vessel by a stirring apparatus with an additional quantity of hydrocarbon oil of light color, the boiling temperature of which is above 300 centigradesuch as the common 1ubricating-oilsuntil a perfectly clear and easily-flowing liquid is obtained. In this manner the caoutchouc is intimately and permanently united with the hydrocarbon oils, the product combining the properties of both substances in a high degree, so as to be of considerable advantage in the arts.

I am aware that caoutchouc in a disintegrated state has been combined with refined mineral oils obtained from distilled crude coal or peat oil or from petroleum or other liquid rock or earth hydrocarbons. This com bination has been effected by heat alone or by mechanical agitation alone, or both, and the result was a liquid or semisolid compound adapted for use as a lubricant. I am also aware that it is not new to produce a lubricant composed of india-rubber cut into small pieces, soaked in warm water, and dissolved in coal-tar or petroleum, either crude or refined, and in such proportions as will preserve the compound in a liquid or semi-solid state. I do not claim such lubricating compounds.

By my method or process of first treating the caoutchouc with the hydrocarbon oil at a temperature of, say, 250 centigrade, in about the relative proportions stated, and, second, mechanically mixing the stiff mass thus obtained with an additional quantity of hydrocarbon oil of light color-boiling temperature 300 centigradeI obtain a perfectly clear and easily-flowingliquid, which,when it is applied to surfaces and dried, will form a perfect waterproofing therefor.

The objcct of treating the caoutchouc so as to produce a doughy mass and then reducing this'mass to aliquid state is that I more intimately and homogeneously combine the substances and obtain the best result.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The water-proof compound obtained by treating caoutohouc with a hydrocarbon of a boiling temperature of about 250 to 300 centigrade, in aboutthe proportions stated, to produce a doughy mass, and subsequently treating this mass with an additional quantity of ahydrocarbon-oil of a boilingtemperature of about 300 centigrade until aclear liquid is obtained, substantially as described.

2. The water-proof compound consisting of, say, one part of caoutchouc to about four parts of hydrocarbon oil of a boiling temperature of about 250 to 300 centigrade, mixed together substantially in the manner described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DR. LUDWIG BEOKERS. 

